On November 11, the capital of Ukraine hosted a large-scale charity auction “Wings of Victory” to raise funds to equip 4 strike groups of the Main Directorate of Intelligence’s special forces unit “WINGS” with drones.
The charity event began with a minute of silence and honoring those who gave their lives for our freedom and independence. All those present sincerely thanked the military, many of whom were also among the honored guests.
The organizers chose the date of the event not by chance, as November 11 was the anniversary of the liberation of Kherson, so the first lot of the auction was a unique plate with Petrykivka painting, the owner of which, while under occupation, hid it in the ground under the fear of abuse and torture by the occupiers. The unique lot, with a starting price of 10,000 UAH, was purchased for 46,000 UAH.
Other lots included no less valuable and rare items, such as a handmade statuette of a Zaporizhzhia Cossack, a luxurious designer dress and a collection of HIMARS embroidered shirts created especially for the auction by the Svoe brand.
Other lots aroused no less enthusiasm among the bidders: a ball signed by Andriy Shevchenko, a golden jewelry piece “WINGS” by Vash Jeweler, a trophy bottle of sparkling wine “Artemivske”, one of the last surviving pieces made 3 days before the invasion of Bakhmut, a legendary photo from Azovstal “Light will conquer darkness” signed by the Ukrainian hero “Orest”.
The lots provided by the Ukrainian military caused a special stir – flags signed by the soldiers of the 3rd Brigade and 68th Brigade, a part of the AN-225 Mriya aircraft, an AT-4 tube from Zmeinyi Island signed by the heroes of the Main Directorate of Intelligence’s special unit “ARTAN”, which Kirill Budanov personally served in.
The main event of the auction was the drawing of a unique lot – the flag of Ukraine, signed by the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine V. Zaluzhnyi and the head of the Main Directorate of Intelligence K. Budanov, which was sold for 370 thousand hryvnias.
The new owner of the lot, Mr. Volodymyr, could hardly hold back his tears of joy, and the entire audience gave the generous benefactor a standing ovation.
A charity fair was held in parallel with the auction, where everyone could buy authentic Ukrainian jewelry, candles, dolls and other valuable souvenirs.
In addition, all those present at the event were entertained by performances by well-known artists – singer Solokha, Andriy Kravchenko, the dance trio “WOW-ballet” and the winner of the singing show “The Voice of the Country” Mykhailo Panchyshyn (PTASHKIN), who created an incredible atmosphere with his goosebump-inducing songs. The singer received a standing ovation, not letting him leave the stage.
All the artists deliberately performed without a fee, and other partners, including well-known brands and companies such as Privat-Alco Trading LLC, Pixel Media, Kyiv Golf Center, and the team of the Ukrainian video production company RProduction Studio, which provided professional video filming of the event, also joined the auction on a volunteer basis.
The charity auction was organized by a large team of volunteers from the StarLife Charity Foundation, led by a well-known supporter Angela Kondratiuk, who is a military wife and has been helping the Armed Forces since 2014, and a young entrepreneur Andriy Nebesnyi, who has been reorganizing his business team into a volunteer movement since the first days of the full-scale invasion.
In total, the auction raised a record-breaking UAH 1,535,000. All the funds were donated to the needs of the Main Directorate of Intelligence’s special unit “Krylia”. The commander of this special unit, Ivan Ukraintsev, who was present at the event, thanked everyone for their significant contribution to the defense of Ukraine and personally presented the organizers and partners of the event with honorary awards from Main Directorate of Intelligence
